Google is building a new augmented reality device and operating system

Google was one of the early leaders in the first wave of modern research and augmented reality (AR) devices, but the company seems to have cooled off in recent years on AR, even as Apple and Facebook have invested heavily in it. But it looks like that trend is about to reverse.

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He also posted a link to some Google job listings that give the impression that Google takes AR as seriously as Apple or Meta.

As 9to5Google found out, one of the lists (“Senior Software Engineer, Embedded Systems and Augmented Reality Developer”) clearly described Google’s goal:

Our team creates the software components that control and manage the hardware in our Augmented Reality (AR) products. These are the software components that run on AR devices and are closest to the hardware. As Google adds products to the AR portfolio, the OS Foundations team becomes the first software development team to work on the new hardware.

Other job listings say the new hires will work on an “innovative augmented reality device.”One states that Google is “focused on making immersive computing accessible to billions of people through mobile devices.”

Roles is primarily located in the United States, but some are located in Waterloo, Ontario, the headquarters of Canadian smart glasses maker North, which Google acquired in 2020.

Google offers APIs and tools to help AR developers create experiences for Android, and the company still offers enterprise customers the once-touted Google Glass headset (which, in fact, runs Android). But these listings suggest that Google isn’t messing around anymore.

Facebook was recently renamed Meta based on CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s use of the sci-fi term “metaverse”to describe the company’s new strategy to create a digital mixed reality layer for social connections and work around the world. And there have been credible reports that Apple will introduce its first mixed reality headset next year, though that product is unlikely to be a mainstream consumer device.

All this suggests that the big tech players are stepping up in the battle for augmented reality, which Apple’s Zuckerberg and Tim Cook have described as the next big computing platform after smartphones.

We’re probably still a decade or more away from mainstream consumer adoption of AR devices for a variety of good reasons, but Google, Apple, and Meta are staffed to prepare for the long haul to such a possible future.